Pius Paschke best German athlete in Zakopane

Pius Paschke achieved a top-ten finish and was the best German athlete in the individual competition in Zakopane. Karl Geiger narrowly missed to qualify for the second round by just 1.1 points. In the Super Team event, Germany had to settle for a rather sobering sixth place.

The World Cup weekend in Zakopane presented several challenges and changed circumstances for the German team, starting with the squad selection for the event in Poland. Germany’s currently strongest athletes, Felix Hoffmann and Philipp Raimund, did not travel to Zakopane. Both were forced to miss the weekend due to injury and illness. Hoffmann had finished the Four Hills Tournament as the best German athlete in sixth place overall, with Raimund close behind in eighth. As a result, the German team competed with a reduced lineup.

In the Super Team competition on Saturday, Karl Geiger and Pius Paschke represented Germany. Although Andreas Wellinger had shown stronger jumps in training, Geiger was given preference due to his better qualification result. In a tense and demanding competition, the German duo struggled to find their rhythm early on. After the opening rounds, they were placed in the lower midfield and even had to fight for a place in the final round. In the end, Germany finished in sixth place. At least Finland and Ukraine were left behind in the final, helped in particular by Geiger’s solid jump of 130 meters. Nevertheless, the result was somewhat disappointing, as the gap to the leading teams was clearly visible.

See the official super team competition results

The individual competition on Sunday showed a slightly more positive trend from a German perspective. Pius Paschke in particular impressed under difficult conditions. With jumps of 130.0 and 131.5 meters, he improved in the final round despite heavy snowfall and finished in a strong ninth place, his best result of the season so far. Andreas Wellinger also qualified for the final round but was unable to maintain his position from the first round and eventually finished 22nd. After the competition, he still pointed to some positive aspects, especially given the constantly changing wind conditions that caused several interruptions.

For Karl Geiger, however, the weekend ended in frustration once again. The ski jumper from Oberstdorf narrowly missed the final round, finishing 31st. With a jump of 124.5 meters, he was just 1.1 points short of the top 30. Despite visible improvements in training and qualification, he was once again unable to score World Cup points. Overall, the German team leaves Zakopane with mixed feelings and now turns its focus to the upcoming World Cup events in Sapporo, Japan.

See the official results of the individual competition